I. Welcome and Call to Order
Chairperson DeAngelo welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order at 10:01 a.m.

II. Approval of June 5, 2009 Minutes
At the request of Ms. Millender, Ms. Kurtz was asked to make a minor change to the minutes from June 5, 2009. Chairperson DeAngelo asked the Committee to approve the minutes with the correction. A motion was made and seconded to approve. The minutes were passed by acclamation.

III. Goals FY2009-2010
The Committee approved the following Goals FY2009-2010:
1. Provide education to members of the Bar and to the public on issues that affect the elderly and people with disabilities.
2. Sponsor a seminar on Elder Law and sponsor an Elder Law related seminar at the Bar Convention.
3. Monitor, study, evaluate and express comments to the Bar regarding legislation that affects the elderly and people with disabilities.
4. Explore, monitor, and participate in projects that affect the elderly and people with disabilities.
5. Continue to develop benefits to attract and retain members.

IV. Subcommittees Reports
CLE
Ms. Flynn reported that the seminar on August 7, 2009, entitled “Toward a Common Goal: Doctors and Lawyers Working Together” was a great success. The seminar was a full day CLE co-sponsored with the South Carolina Hospital Association. Ms. Flynn thanked everyone that helped put the seminar together. The Committee discussed the possibility of committing to presenting a “Common Goals” seminar either each year or every other year.

Ms. Flynn reported that the plans for Bar Convention CLE were for the most part complete. The Elder Law Committee was to co-sponsor two seminars. One was to be on Thursday, January 21, 2010, and the topics were to be identity theft, probate code overhaul update and trust code changes. On Friday, January 22, 2010, Elder Law was to co-sponsor a seminar with the Probate, Estate Planning and Trust Section. The topic was to be on medical directives.

Ms. DeAngelo thanked Ms. Flynn and all the members of the CLE Subcommittee for their hard work. Mr. McQueen volunteered to join the CLE Subcommittee.

G/C
Mr. Jellenik reported that Ms. St. Onge and Ms. Angus had been working on a process description for Guardianship/Conservator purposes. Mr. Jellenik expected there to be a meeting of the Elder Care Task Force in September. Mr. Jellenik thanked Ms. St. Onge, Ms. Angus and the rest of the subcommittee for their hard work.

Legislation
Mr. Payne reported that there was nothing new to report but that he would forward to the Committee a list of legislative initiatives along with the status of each. Ms. DeAngelo suggested that Mr. Payne contact Kali Turner at the Bar for legislative updates.

Public Service/Education
Ms. Weinberg reported that the Guardian Pro Bono Pilot Project had one referral recently. She asked Committee members that would be willing to serve as a pro bono GAL in an action for guardianship involving a senior or a disabled adult to please send an email to her at: eddieweinberg@sclegal.org. Those volunteering were to include their contact information and county they would be willing to serve. The counties included in the Pro Bono Pilot Project were: Richland, Lexington, Sumter, Lee and Kershaw.

Ms. Weinberg reported that the Public Service/Education Subcommittee had met on July 22, 2009. Several topics were discussed:

- SC Bar’s Speaker’s Bureau:
Ms. Weinberg encouraged the Committee members who would be interested in educating the public by speaking on issues related to seniors or disabled adults, to volunteer for the SC Bar’s Speaker’s Bureau by contacting Elizabeth Martin, Public Relations Coordinator at the Bar, 803- 576-3771.
- Develop speaking materials for speaking engagements on topics such as: Advance Directives, Wills, Health Care, Medicaid, Medicare, Scams
- Develop media educational opportunities:
Ms. Weinberg reported that she and Cindy Coker, SC Bar’s Public Service Director, had discussed marketing an Ask-A-Lawyer event towards seniors during the month of May which is Senior Citizen’s Month.
- Pursue educational opportunities to the public by possibly using television stations, video or podcasts.

Ms. DeAngelo thanked Ms. Weinberg and the subcommittee members for their hard work. Ms. Shew volunteered to join the Public Service/Education Subcommittee.

Ms. Angus reported that she was very hopeful that the application for the Model Approaches Grant for Legal Services, funded by the US Administration on Aging would be approved. The grant period was to start September 1, 2009, and if selected, would be funded at $133,333 for three years (total $400,000.) The proposal included the following initiatives: creating sustainable programs/resources that would speak to improving Helpline services; creating, providing, and supporting educational opportunities for seniors; supporting initiatives of the bar such as Ask a Lawyer; providing funding for the development of some self-advocacy initiatives (such as the ones under development by the Access to Justice Commission); utilization of law school students in initiatives that will expand their understanding of the needs of seniors/elder law emphasis; and producing materials (rewrite of the Bar produced Handbook for Seniors and production of DVD on estate planning, compliments of Deborah Faulkner). Ms. Angus thanked the Bar and the Elder Law Committee for their support.